Scytale Digital’s Application for Decentralized Voices: Cohort 3
As an established asset manager deeply embedded in the Polkadot ecosystem since its inception, we believe we have a strong basis for consideration for Cohort 3 of the Decentralized Voices program.
Our Perspective
As experienced stewards of capital, we recognize the responsibility entrusted to us by our investors and, likewise, what would be the broader community. We are committed to managing treasury funds responsibly, ethically, and transparently, with a focus on long-term sustainability. Moreover, we are directly incentivized to perform well and make good decisions due to our investment strategy being largely focused on the DOT ecosystem. With that said, our decisions are guided not only by financial returns but also by considerations of real world value creation, social impact, environmental sustainability, and ethical practices.
Our Philosophy
Our political philosophy is guided by our mantra: honesty, integrity and empathy. While our work in managing private capital is also geared towards supporting the Polkadot ecosystem, it is not always possible to communicate our decisions to the public. We believe that the Decentralized Voices program will be an excellent opportunity for Scytale to showcase our abilities and point of view through our votes and establish a greater bond and mutual understanding with others in the community, leading to better outcomes for everyone.
Scytale Digital prioritizes responsible and sustainable financial management. This entails prudently allocating resources, minimizing unnecessary expenditure, and maximizing the impact of dispersed capital. By adopting a long-term perspective and considering the broader implications of financial decisions, Scytale Digital seeks to foster economic stability and growth within the Polkadot ecosystem while ensuring accountability to all stakeholders.
About us, Applying as a Unit
Scytale Digital is applying as a unit, where our team will dedicate their expertise as needed, to assist with due diligence and decision-making. The vote is executed only after a threshold of team members have reviewed and voted on each referendum. Our team includes analysts specializing in finance, economics, legal operations, communications and technology. Scytale is led by:
Mark Cachia - Founder and Chief Investment Officer
Christoph Kampitsch - Chief Executive Officer
While accepting the role of a DV comes with additional work, we believe that due to our position as a major stakeholder, it is a duty of ours to utilize the combined experience of our leadership to help the community make good decisions. The management is supported by a group of talented and motivated team members. To learn more about our team, please visit our website or check our socials at scytale | Instagram | Linktree.
Why we believe we are well-suited for this role?
Investment in Polkadot & Decentralization: We have a proven track record of investing in projects that promote decentralization and build on Polkadot. Our portfolio includes disruptive Web3 technologies that are reshaping industries and driving innovation while subscribing to the idea of decentralization empowered by web3 technology. Moreover, the large majority of our investments 2 have been made either into Polkadot-native projects or projects that we have on-boarded into Polkadot.
Aligned Interests
Our investment products show a clear alignment with the goal of maintaining a healthy network and ensuring effective treasury management:
(1) Scytale’s main fund Horizon II is focused on developing projects, either already in Polkadot or on bringing in external web3 projects into the ecosystem. This fund includes some of Polkadot’s most prominent projects, such as Centrifuge, Mythical Games, Tanssi, Astar, KILT and Aventus, among others.
(2) We are also the official research partner for Crypto Finance’s “Scytale Ecosystem Liquid” Actively Managed Certificate (AMC). The AMC is an ETN-like product, focused on interoperability, with Polkadot-compatible projects being the focus of the fund.This product includes ecosystem projects not in our Horizon II portfolio, such as OriginTrail, Moonbeam and Energy Web X, with plans to add more.
(3) Scytale is actively raising for the Scytale Polkadot Ecosystem Fund, which will be held and denominated in DOT. The fund is expected to launch in October 2024 and its portfolio of projects will interact heavily with treasury-funded programs and agents.
As an active investor, we strive to add value in other ways as well, contributing through initiatives like PoKe, the Polkadot Key Account Unit, the business development unit focusing on enterprise and government clients in the Middle East and Asia. Moving forward, Scytale aims to continue its investment focus on the Polkadot ecosystem and is therefore incentivized to oversee ecosystem funds return maximum value for participants and ensure the growth of the DOT token.
Cohort 2 Performance: Self Assessment
While we have participated in voting for a large percentage of Referendums over our first period as DV delegates, (including having voted on 95% of all Spender tracks and 90% of WFC as of 09-26-2024), statistically we have voted Aye very conservatively. Particularly, our philosophy is evidently supportive of more organization and one that promotes cohesive, aligned units.
(Decentralized Voices Dashboard, Dune Analytics)
Nonetheless, there are times where we are convicted and vote against the grain as well, voting Aye on larger proposals that we deem vital for continued growth. While we have consulted with many ecosystem agents throughout the first term, we’ve remained independent in our decisions. We believe that our activity and therefore insights, while not always possible to share publicly, can continue to be a great asset, reflected in our voting.
Cohort 2 Performance: Abstaining
We are also aware of our significant number of Abstain votes. This can be attributed largely due to a late start and onboarding our team from both a technical and educational standpoint. During the latter part of this DV period, we made sure to Abstain as seldom as possible, which is reflected in the voting as well. Moving forward, Scytale aims to maintain trending in this direction, of decisive voting, with the exception being conflict of interest.
Other Takeaways
The DV job comes with two major stressors; (1) the diligence, including the ability to review initiatives, analyze the individual project and its fit in the ecosystem their value and (2) the ability to act without bias, to diplomatically provide feedback and keep spirits up when hopefuls do not get their proposals approved.
Engaging with the Community
Shortly after receiving our delegation, we published our philosophy and voting strategy. To ensure people are able to reach us, we opened our Discord channel to the public (please join!). We have listened in on every AAG since receiving our delegation (and long before then) and had at least one representative present nearly every single week.
Moving forward, we plan to dedicate the additional resources allotted by the W3F to ensure that we can execute on even stronger communications with the community.
Commitment to Community Development:
We have made a concerted effort into building our relationships within the Polkadot community, coworking with and empowering stakeholders, both within or external to our portfolio. We are deeply committed to the Polkadot community and actively engage with current and prospective stakeholders through various channels, including forums, meetups and events, both as attendees and organizers of events like Proof of Talk and our flagship conference, Decentralized Lugano. We have also organized educational initiatives like the Scytale Academy and mentored at the Polkadot Blockchain Academy on multiple occasions. Our goal is to foster collaboration, inclusivity, and transparency within the ecosystem. Due to our heavy involvement with the community, we are confident in our ability to make informed decisions.
Expertise in Governance:
With our experience in the blockchain space, and particularly in Polkadot, we have developed a deep understanding of the culture and mechanisms of Polkadot’s governance system (OpenGov). We believe we can provide valuable insights and perspectives to help shape governance decisions within the Polkadot ecosystem.
Scytale has had hands-on experience within the Polkadot governance ecosystem. Our team is either currently involved in or has had experience as curators on several governance programs within Polkadot, including the Marketing Bounty, BD Bounty and the Social Media Editorial Board.
Advocacy for Polkadot:
We are strong advocates for Polkadot’s approach to decentralization and believe that the values and tools brought forward by Polkadot are essential for the long-term success of Web3 technologies. Through our participation in the Decentralized Voices program, we aim to promote decentralization and ensure that governance decisions are made in the best interests of the community.
Final Words
To conclude, we are eager to continue participating in the Decentralized Voices program and contribute to the governance of the Polkadot ecosystem in a decentralized and inclusive manner. We believe that our years of experience in blockchain, and more specifically the Polkadot ecosystem, along with our expertise, commitment, and advocacy for decentralization make us well-suited for this role.
We look forward to the opportunity to work alongside other participants and help shape the future of Web3.